Are record lables dead?

[anybody human]

I agree that labels have changed, becoming what are basically management agencies. It's almost impossible to be heard and a lot of smaller labels are fantastic at this. They have contacts & reputations that open doors, and the really good ones have a tight knit organization, an esthetic sense, and killer work ethic. A good label is invaluable, but there's only so many slots to go around so it's all who you know and how people react to your music. Not to mention right place right time.

Any label wants to see an artist who's already working to get themselves out there though, so I'd agree that the bedroom thing is somewhat of a myth. You've gotta get out there locally and get involved in your community. Not all music is supposed to be heard though, it can be for you if that's what you need it to be.

[ChiDJ]

I agree that labels have changed, becoming what are basically management agencies. It's almost impossible to be heard and a lot of smaller labels are fantastic at this. They have contacts & reputations that open doors, and the really good ones have a tight knit organization, an esthetic sense, and killer work ethic. A good label is invaluable, but there's only so many slots to go around so it's all who you know and how people react to your music.

This:

It's still about who you know, hard work and a lot of luck.

[BigBeerD]

...no, they just smell funny

[beats me]

What about this situation.

"Dear beatport. Hi. I would like to sell my songs on your site."

"Dear sir. Awesome. Have your label contact us for set up."

Frantically does research on labels and discovers it really isn't that difficult to make yourself a label.

"Beatport. Greetings. I represent this label (I invented and legally created in about 2 weeks) and would like my artist (me) to sell tracks on your site."

"Hello label representative. Fantastic! Let's do this shit!"

I think in beatport's effort to implement some kind of quality control they created a bigger diluted problem.

[mihai]

i don't think labels will die for quite some time because they are a way to offer an unknown artist some street cred. plenty of people won't risk paying money on an unknown act but if a bigger label [that has worked with known artists] is associated with said unknown act then odds are a lot more people will spend money in that direction. but yes, a record label isn't the only way to offer some sort of guarantee; established names can support an unknown just as much.

[alex.the.forge]

not dead at all. They don't make the money they used to, but they don't have to fork out on anything like the costs they used to either, and they get to a much wider audience. (google: the long tail)

The simple difference:
1. Go through all the hard slog of using the blogs and myspace etc etc and gradually build your profile and work your way up the shit pile until a DJ or 2 with clout somehow gets hold of your tune.
or
2. get signed to a label who already has a reputation to bigger name DJs and get your tracks straight to them.

the whole blog thing is all well and good, but I can't see any of the heavy hitters trawling through them. Imagine how many tracks Carl Cox or Villalobos etc get sent in a week?

they get sent promos from labels, and the labels they have known to be decent in the past are the ones they will listen to.

if you want your tunes out there getting played on a decent level - getting charted/playlisted etc by anyone that will get noticed, you have to get on a label still. Just don't do it for the cash.

[stonee]

I think the thing is with labels now, is that there's a shit ton more of them.

now anyone with a bit of money and a modem can set up a label. I think big labels are starting to suffer because smaller labels are flourishing, with strong roots in a dedicated community.

how much effort and start up cost goes into starting an electronic net label? just whatever web hosting costs.

most music listeners these days don't give a shit about what label released what song. so yeah, bigger labels have to focus on big hits to keep going.

big labels arent putting the effort to become part of the community. all the small labels we have around here have their hands in everything from promotion, to design.

music and music buisness with social networking is starting to become almost more of a social art/buisness.

"real" music listeners want to get to know their labels , and "real" labels want to get to know their listeners.

[sunaivod]

Can anybody give his opinion / experience with www.tunecore.com?
It seems fair to me, why need a label if there's tunecore which put your music on the big selling points?
+ try to contact as many music review blogs in a specific genre / magazines as marketing.

I'm still working on a "album" so I don't know yet what I will do to get my music at the right people.
(label? tunecore + marketing on your own?).
Cheerz.

[stonee]

me and some freinds are going to start a label. not really for any serious buisness reasons, but just for something to do, and a different way to support our music community while helping to push our music.

i think this is the way it should be now, but with small self sustaining groups like us popping up all over the place, bigger labels are probably loosing out.

probably what needs to happen is bigger labels need to help out the community of smaller labels.

[alex.the.forge]

Can anybody give his opinion / experience with http://www.tunecore.com?
It seems fair to me, why need a label if there's tunecore which put your music on the big selling points?
.

the point I guess I was making is that an established label with a good name will have a good address book they can send their promos to. The bigger DJs are more likely to listen to stuff on a label they have heard of with a reputation, and getting your tracks supported by bigger DJs does a lot for your Bio and profile.

You still have to be prolific and turn out tracks they will be into, but the point is, you do your research, make sure you send to the labels that are into the same kind of music as you and are likely to be interested.

I also should mention I'm speaking specifically about house/tech stuff - if you're talking about folk ballads or whatever then I have no idea, this is just my experience.

The label I'm on at the moment I first put tracks out on about 8 or 9 years ago when it was still vinyl - then you still got an advance (some of the bigger ones still do that, but you have to already have a name and plenty of people ringing you up to be able to get that). what would happen is you'd get sent emails of the responses of the DJs on the label's promo list who had given good feedback, as well as, charts/top tens if your tune makes it on to any.

Now days it's all electronic and you can get a link to the feedback page and the text goes up the second the DJ downloads the track, and if any DJs of note take the time to write/download then the label includes as part of the promotion on the page for your release……. and so on

My latest release got comments from Roger Sanchez and Danny tenaglia and there is no way in hell that would have happened without the label.

[clank72]

here's my 2 dollars. As I'm super tired.
I'm a Marketer for a living but have made music for 25 years. I have generated 2 million dollars in the last 3 years marketing myself on the internet (not music related but close), and I never left the house.

First of all, be careful what you wish for. YES you can make money sitting on your ass at home. YES you can do this. It all depends how much work you want to put into it. You do not need to DJ to make money or to be "herd'. Not all music is DJ music. The internet is all you need. There are millions of music posting places. You can do Royalty-free Stock Music, or even post your tracks on istockphoto.com and get checks from them, or pay one of these companies to post your stuff on itunes, then YouTube etc.. Don't get me started.

Everyone and their brother is making music these days so it's WAY more competitive. Like a needle in a hay stack at times. We all know this. Heck, you can produce a hit with a $200 setup right now. Just walk down to the local musician shop, buy some monitors and a sound card with Ableton Live Lite... done. Hey Look, I can do this too!. Everyone is a "producer" now right?

Ok, I would approach this a different way. You can do what everyone else does, or try this. Forget the money. I would start a business and get a good job for that. Work on music in spare time. Do it for your love of art. Many musicians do not have a plan B and will be broke until their 60's trying to go platinum. Forget that. Focas on starting and building a fan/mailing list. If you have a website you can install some code and take email and names of the people that like your tracks. You can use a service like http://www.aweber.com ... Focus on ONE single fan, then go from there. Build up your list, you can build it to 100 people or more. Then tell them you are working on a new album for 2011. Get a video camera and make a weird video for YouTube with your music track-- as a teaser. Then when your album is finished send the message to your fan list on where they can buy it for $6 bucks or whatever.

Some tips:

• Make the best stuff you can, then give it away.
• Before I get 5000 fans, I must have 1 first. Focus on 1.
• Make sure people can join your fan list (as mentioned above).
• Go for the low hanging fruit.
• Work on a new album, tease and then make an offer to them.
• There are people out there that will like your music! Trust me.
• Know one can download your music from Torrent because it's not there.
• Whisper a voice at the end of your track that says "yoursite.com...."
• Make a band card, like a business card so you can give it to people anywhere.
• The band card, has your website on it.
• Replicate 300 CD's with a nice cover for your album.
• Ship a free CD to your fans. It's tangible. They'll have your music in there house!
• Have a Gimmick or an Identity for yourself. Even if it seems retarded.

I could blab on some more, but I pulled an all nighter. Yes you can do this. My best advice is if you want to make some decent money with music, you should educate yourself on marketing. Spend a couple months learning how to market on the internet. Do research. Most of the people that DJ or play live lack this knowledge. You have an advantage now. If you do what everyone else is doing, you'll be just like everyone else.

[Mint Invader]

here's my 2 dollars. As I'm super tired.
I'm a Marketer for a living but have made music for 25 years. I have generated 2 million dollars in the last 3 years marketing myself on the internet (not music related but close), and I never left the house.

First of all, be careful what you wish for. YES you can make money sitting on your ass at home. YES you can do this. It all depends how much work you want to put into it. You do not need to DJ to make money or to be "herd'. Not all music is DJ music. The internet is all you need. There are millions of music posting places. You can do Royalty-free Stock Music, or even post your tracks on istockphoto.com and get checks from them, or pay one of these companies to post your stuff on itunes, then YouTube etc.. Don't get me started.

Everyone and their brother is making music these days so it's WAY more competitive. Like a needle in a hay stack at times. We all know this. Heck, you can produce a hit with a $200 setup right now. Just walk down to the local musician shop, buy some monitors and a sound card with Ableton Live Lite... done. Hey Look, I can do this too!. Everyone is a "producer" now right?

Ok, I would approach this a different way. You can do what everyone else does, or try this. Forget the money. I would start a business and get a good job for that. Work on music in spare time. Do it for your love of art. Many musicians do not have a plan B and will be broke until their 60's trying to go platinum. Forget that. Focas on starting and building a fan/mailing list. If you have a website you can install some code and take email and names of the people that like your tracks. You can use a service like http://www.aweber.com ... Focus on ONE single fan, then go from there. Build up your list, you can build it to 100 people or more. Then tell them you are working on a new album for 2011. Get a video camera and make a weird video for YouTube with your music track-- as a teaser. Then when your album is finished send the message to your fan list on where they can buy it for $6 bucks or whatever.

Some tips:

• Make the best stuff you can, then give it away.
• Before I get 5000 fans, I must have 1 first. Focus on 1.
• Make sure people can join your fan list (as mentioned above).
• Go for the low hanging fruit.
• Work on a new album, tease and then make an offer to them.
• There are people out there that will like your music! Trust me.
• Know one can download your music from Torrent because it's not there.
• Whisper a voice at the end of your track that says "yoursite.com...."
• Make a band card, like a business card so you can give it to people anywhere.
• The band card, has your website on it.
• Replicate 300 CD's with a nice cover for your album.
• Ship a free CD to your fans. It's tangible. They'll have your music in there house!
• Have a Gimmick or an Identity for yourself. Even if it seems retarded.

I could blab on some more, but I pulled an all nighter. Yes you can do this. My best advice is if you want to make some decent money with music, you should educate yourself on marketing. Spend a couple months learning how to market on the internet. Do research. Most of the people that DJ or play live lack this knowledge. You have an advantage now. If you do what everyone else is doing, you'll be just like everyone else.

Great advice. Its funny in the last year I have been slowly going through a checklist such as this.

[Rave]

Neb has been doing greatbof communicating to his fans and from what I recall he has had more success in sales.

[domwave]

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